Summary

This case study covers the process behind UX research, wireframing & prototyping and development process.

Missingbus.ie is a platform designed to address the issue of buses not arriving at their scheduled times. It provides users with a channel to report instances when buses fail to appear as expected. Additionally, the platform incorporates a third-party solution that offers live maps displaying the real-time locations of buses as an additional feature.

During the first month of its launch, Missingbus.ie received an impressive number of over 120 report submissions from users. This initial response highlights the significance of the problem and the value users found in having a dedicated platform to voice their concerns.

Missingbus.ie demonstrates a proactive approach to addressing transportation issues and empowering commuters. By combining user-generated reports with live bus tracking and upcoming AI insights, the project aims to improve public transportation reliability and keep commuters informed about bus schedules and delays.

Problem Space

Upon moving to Dublin, I noticed a common problem in the public transport system, the phenomenon of "ghost buses.” These were buses that were displayed as available on real-time apps and digital street panels, yet would never appear at their bus stops. Encountering this issue repeatedly triggered a lot of frustration, especially when there were no other transportation options available to turn to. I even thought about making a complaint to Dublin Bus, but I wasn't sure how to do it, and I was worried that it wouldn't make a difference.

After experiencing this frustrating issue with public transport, I decided I wanted to take action. I wanted to bring attention to this problem and confirm whether others were also affected and feeling as frustrated as I was.

↳ Goals

• Validate if "ghost buses" truly bothers Irish citizens and affects their daily lives, especially their commuting experiences.

• If this assumption is validated, conceptualise a solution that enables commuters to easily report instances of ghost buses.

Exploratory Research

In late 2022, this problem got a significant amount of attention from the Irish media, putting pressure on the National Transport Authority (NTA) of Ireland to address the issue. In response to this, Andrea Keane, the acting chief executive of Dublin Bus, attributed the problem to:

“This was due to a technical error with the Dublin Bus AVL [automatic vehicle locator] system,” she said. “All of our current testing indicates that this was successfully resolved on September 15th, however, we are continuing to run independent checks on this system."

- Andrea Keane

↳ News Sources:

🔗 "Ryan seeks meeting with Dublin Bus over ‘disappearing’ buses" – The Irish Times, Dec 28 2022
🔗 "Transport chiefs to banish 'ghost' buses from Dublin as driver shortages blamed" – Irish Mirror, Nov 8 2022
🔗 "Dublin’s vanishing buses will mean vanishing passengers" – The Irish Times, Nov 7 2022
🔗 "Lack of drivers and IT failure to blame for 'vanishing' buses in Dublin" – DublinLive, Nov 8 2022
🔗 " The 17 may as well be a ghost bus’ – Dublin passenger vents frustration at vanishing buses and ‘real time’ info detached from reality" – Independent.ie, Nov 10 2022
🔗 "Please Exorcise “Ghost” Buses from Dublin Bus Real-Time Information Services, Passengers Say" – Dublin InQuirer, July 27, 2022

↳ Survey

Based on my personal experiences, I've noticed that this problem has persisted with Dublin Bus over time. I was curious to know whether other passengers had experienced the same issue. To validate my assumption, I decided to run quantitative research through a survey. To quickly gather responses, I shared the survey in the Dublin subreddit and received 309 responses of Dublin commuters.

🔍 Survey results about Dublin's "Ghost" Buses

Survey Results

(309 Total responses)

• 💡 98% of users have experienced this issue before

• 💡 Most passengers check their real-time information with the following (order of popularity):
  1. Dublin Street Panels
  2. Dublin Bus App
  3. TFI App
  4. Google Maps

• 💡 16% of the participants resides in County Dublin (areas surrounding Dublin)

• 💡 88% of the participants do not believe there is a particular time of day when this issue occurs more frequently.

• 💡 Most people (76.7%) rate the Dublin Bus service ⭐️ 3/5 (49.2%) and ⭐️ 2/5 (27.5%).

• 💡 When users were asked about the frequency of this problem, their responses varied from monthly to weekly and even daily occurrences.

• 💡 Lines “18” and “39a” are two lines that appeared many times when asked if they noticed a particular line where this problem happens with more frequency.

• 💡 About 40% of participants comprehend that Dublin have a driver shortage issue.

• 💡 45% would like to complain about this problem.

• 💡 75% do not know where or how to complain about this issue.

• 💡 82% never complained about this issue.

  
  

When I asked about their thoughts on the cause of this problem, their responses are categorised into five themes:

• Bad management (from government, public transport companies, NTA...)

• Tech issues

• Staff shortage

• Traffic

• Lack of budget in general.
  
  

Question:
"Why do you think this issue (ghost buses) happens?"

📝 Figjam file for survey results

Ideation and Wireframing

Having validated the initial assumption, I decided to create a tool that enables commuters to report missing buses and view reports submitted by other users. By doing so, everyone would have access to data, allowing for analysis of patterns and ultimately informing the responsible organisations for public transportation.

My goal was to develop a solution with a strong emphasis on speed. In order to achieve this, I aimed to create a simple and efficient report action. To accomplish this, I identified three key pieces of information required to generate a useful report: bus number, bus stop, and date/time. With this data, I would be able to analyse patterns.

With that in mind, I designed a series of wireframes that included all the information necessary for the app to function effectively. These wireframes consisted of three pages: a report page where the user could quickly submit a form, an about page that explained the purpose of the website, and a third page detailing how the data would be utilised and shared.

1. Report form as the homepage of the application.

2. An about page.

3. A data handling information page.

After testing and feedback, the wireframes were iterated to a second version.

Tests showed that the participants did not understand the menu on top. Also, they were comments about the lack of a confirmation modal telling them their report was submitted. Since this website is mobile focused, I moved the menu down for easier reachability, revised the about and data page with more information and added a fourth button that takes the user to a Twitter account where the date would be shared.

Design and Development

During the development of this project, Midjourney was getting a lot of attention from media so I wanted to see if I could implement it into my design process as a test. My aim was to design a straightforward solution, so I adopted a clean and minimalist approach to the design.

I used the colours of public transport signs in Ireland and crafted a welcoming icon that would serve as the "logo" of the project. When I was looking for ideas for the logo, I asked Midjourney to give me options for a bus app icon that had an illustrative style and a frowny face. These were the options provided:

After making some design tweaks, the final version took shape and looked like this:

In the end, I was happy with the friendly and modern look of the icon.

Development

With the goal of developing a user-friendly and efficient solution, I aimed to incorporate a few additional features. One of my objectives was to enable users to effortlessly select the date and time. Upon clicking on the respective fields, the current date and time would automatically populate, eliminating the need for manual input.

However, I also wanted to provide flexibility for users who wished to complete this information later, particularly when generating a report following an incident. To accomplish this, I leveraged the assistance of ChatGPT while coding these functionalities.

Results

After testing the features, this is the final result:

I shared the first version of the website online in the same Reddit communities (r/Ireland and r/Dublin) and got some really positive initial feedback from users:

Reflection

Currently, the project is on hold as the focus shifts toward implementing AI insights. These insights will be automatically posted to Twitter, allowing users to receive updates and information related to bus delays and other relevant insights. This integration of AI technology aims to further enhance the user experience and provide valuable real-time information to the community.